Wyoming is one of the fifty states that make up the United States of America. Its capital and most populous city is Cheyenne (63,335 inhabitants in 2015). It is located in the western region of the country, Rocky Mountains division, bordering Montana to the north, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Colorado to the south, Utah to the southwest and Idaho to the west.
With 586,107 inhabitants in 2015, it is the least populated state, with 253,336 km² the tenth largest —behind Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Oregon— and with 2.2 hab/km² the second least densely populated, behind Alaska. Wyoming was admitted to the Union on July 10, 1890, as the 44th state. With a rate of 449 employees per 10,000 people, it has the highest proportion of nonfederal public employment in the country.
Two-thirds of the western territory is covered mostly by the Rocky Mountain ranges and foothills, while the eastern portion of the state is high-altitude grassland known as the High Plains. Nearly half of Wyoming’s land is owned by the U.S. government, making Wyoming the sixth state in terms of acreage owned by the federal government. These federal lands include two national parks—Grand Teton and Yellowstone—two national recreation areas, two national monuments, as well as several national forests, historic sites, fishing areas, and wildlife preserves.
The Crow, Arapaho, Lakota, and Shoshón are some of the original settlers of the region. The southwestern region of the state was included in the Spanish Empire, and consequently, in Mexican territory, until it was ceded to the United States in 1848 as a result of the American intervention in Mexico.
The mineral extraction industry—especially coal, oil, natural gas, and trona—along with tourism are the main drivers of Wyoming’s economy. Agriculture has historically been an important component of the state’s economy. The climate is generally semiarid and continental, being drier and windier than the rest of the United States, with extreme temperatures common.
Toponym (
The English toponym is Wyoming
The region acquired the name Wyoming when a bill was introduced to Congress in 1865 to provide «a temporary government for the territory of Wyoming.» The territory was named after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, the name being derived from the Munsee word xwé:wamənk, meaning «on the great flat river.»
GEOGRAPHY
In Wyoming, the Great Plains region runs into the Rocky Mountains. The state is a large plateau crossed by several mountain ranges: in the northwest, the Absaroka, Owl Creek, Gros Ventre, Wind River and Teton ranges; in the north central, the Big Horn Mountains; in the northeast, the Black Hills; and in the south region, the Laramie, Medicine Bow and Sierra Madre mountains. The name of the capital is due to the fact that the Cheyenne River runs through the state, which also gave its name to a tribe of Indians in that area. The Nevada mountain range in the south central area is an extension of The Rocky Mountains of Colorado, both geologically and in appearance. The Wind River Range in west-central Colorado is the farthest away and includes Gannett Peak (13,297 ft), the highest peak in the state. The Big Horn Mountains in north-central Colorado are separated from the Rocky Mountain mass. The Teton Range in the northwest stretches for about 50 miles (80 km) and is the most impressive mountain section in the state, with the Grand Teton, Wyoming’s second highest peak, and Grand Teton National Park, the most impressive section of the range, standing out. Wyoming is an arid state; most of the soil receives less than 10 inches (250 mm) of rainfall annually, making the land unsuitable for agriculture. Cattle ranching is especially common near the mountainous areas. The Continental Divide runs through the state.
History
Originally, before the arrival of the white man, the area occupied by the current state was inhabited by different tribes such as the Crow, the Arapaho, the Lakota and the Shoshone. From the 18th century onwards, the south-west of the region was part of the Spanish Empire and later of the Mexican territory of Alta California until it was ceded to the United States in 1848 at the end of the American intervention in Mexico. At the end of the century, many French-Canadian hunters arrived in the area, among whom Jacques La Ramée (1784-1821) and Toussaint Charbonneau (1767-1843) stood out; the latter, married to the Shoshone indigenous Sacagawea (1788-1812), guided John Colter (1774-1812), a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, to see the area. Colter was the first to describe Yellowstone Park.
In 1812, Robert Stuart and a group of five men returning from Astoria, Oregon, discovered the South Pass, which was later followed by the Oregon Trail. In 1850, Jim Bridger found what is now known as Bridger Pass, which was used by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868.
After the railroad reached Cheyenne in 1867, the population of the region began to increase, and copper mines in the Sierra Madre Range began to be exploited. Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, the first national park in the world.
On December 10, 1869, the governor of the territory, John Allen Campbell, extended suffrage to women, making Wyoming the first territory in the country to have such a right. Wyoming was also a pioneer in attracting women to politics.
Wyoming is also the site of the Johnson County War (1892), between competing groups of ranchers. Except for the 1964 election, Wyoming has been a politically conservative state since the 1950s, with the Republican Party winning every presidential election in the state since then.
Demographics
Currently, the state of Wyoming has a population of 515,004 people, of which:
88% are white (European or of European descent).
6.9% are Latin American (with a predominance of Mexicans).
0.7% are African American.
0.9% are Asian.
The remainder are people of other ethnicities.
The population of Latin American origin is the fastest growing, due to the high growth rate of Hispanic American families, and illegal immigration.
CLIMATE
The climate is cold, dry and windy compared to the rest of the United States; this is due to the topography. Summers are warm with high temperatures in July averaging between 29 °C and 35 °C in most of the state. With an increasing elevation; however, this average drops rapidly in places that are above 2700 m, averaging around 21 °C here. Summer nights across the state are characterized by rapid cooling even in the warmest places averaging in the range of 10-14 °C at night.
In most of the state, late spring and early summer are when precipitation tends to fall. Winters are cold, but vary with periods of extreme cold between mild periods, with Chinook winds providing unusually warm temperatures in some places.
Economy
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the gross domestic product was $27.4 billion. In January 2010, the state’s unemployment rate was 7.6%.9
The components of its economy differ significantly from those of other states. Its mainstays are mining and tourism. The federal government owns 50% of its land, while 6% is controlled by the state. The total contribution of the mining sector reached 6.7 billion dollars. The tourism industry has managed to generate over two billion dollars in revenue for the state.
In 2002, more than six million people visited its national parks and monuments, such as Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, and Fossil Butte National Monument. Yellowstone National Park, the first national park created in the world, receives three million visitors each year.
Historically, agriculture had been an important component of the state’s economy. Its current importance in the state’s economy has faded. However, agriculture remains an essential part of its culture and lifestyle. More than 91% of its land is classified as rural.
Cultural References
The state is the setting for the films An Unfinished Life and Brokeback Mountain. The state is also the setting for Steven Spielberg’s film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which famously ends at Devils Tower. Likewise, Jellystone National Park, home of Yogi Bear, is based on the aforementioned Yellowstone Park.
Religion
The Baptist Church with 80,421 members is the most representative church in Wyoming. Next is the Methodist Church with 47,129 members. The Catholic Church has 31,101 members.
Religion in 2018
Protestants 57%
Catholics 14%
Other religions 3%
No religion 26%
Education
It has eight colleges: Casper College, Central Wyoming College, Eastern Wyoming College, Laramie County Community College, Northwest College, Sheridan College, Western Wyoming Community College, Wyoming Technical Institute.